Today we are linking up our favorite ways to celebrate the new year. Share your party foods and ideas. Do you have traditions you and your family always bring out when a new year rolls around? Goals? Resolutions? Intentions? Share those posts. As always, we are looking forward to what you have to say.
by Connie Ash
As 2016 comes to an end and planning for 2017 begins, you may find yourself stressed and with nothing left to give. As women, we often feel the need to give one-hundred percent of what we have to others or to causes that are meaningful to us.
Being a giver should bring us joy, but instead, we often feel stress. Acute stress comes in the form of physical and mental symptoms, like fatigue, irritability, anxiety and tension, depression, headaches, shortness of breath, insomnia, disorganization and short-term memory problems.
So what do we do when we feel like we need to give more, but stress is making it impossible. Some of us will buy self-help books, sign up for a time management course, buy a planner or set up an online calendar so we can better manage our time. Others may develop unhealthy habits, like over-eating, quitting an exercise plan, or cutting back on sleep.
So, let’s make 2017 a year of giving to ourselves. Here are a few simple, practical ways to give yourself the best possible chance a living a good life:
1. Make time for you – Fill Your Whole Tank: Look at your life in a systematic way — consider the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual aspects. When these four components are in harmony, you will find a peace and energy. Ask yourself what you are doing daily to nurture these four aspects of your life. If one is being neglected, look at ways to concentrate on it. This will help you to stay focused and intentional about what you are doing personally and professionally.
2. Cultivate an attitude of acceptance – Be Intentional about Having Healthy Disruptions in Your Life: Take periodic breaks from your daily routines at work and at home. Read a magazine at lunchtime instead of working at your desk or run on your home treadmill while you watch the sunrise instead of racing to the gym! This kind of “change of pace” will actually increase your energy and renew your spirit.
3. Establish Your Boundaries and Communicate Them: Remember that you are the one making changes in how you prioritize your activities and live your life. No one else will set those important boundaries for you. It is ok to say no. Tell everyone – you are giving yourself the best 2017 possible.
Connie is a 50-something wife, mother, Nana, doggie mom, vegetarian, living in the small community of Blytheville, AR. located in the far Northeast corner of the State. She shares a home with her husband aka The Big Man, 14 rescue dogs and 7 chickens. Collectively they have six adult near-perfect children and five perfect grandboys, 1 sweet granddaughter, 2 god-daughters and 5 awesome granddogs. Connie is a family nurse practitioner who runs a small clinic and manages a free health clinic (Great River Charitable Clinic). She and the Big Man also own and operate Bed and Biscuit Boarding. Connie is an active member of the Blytheville Humane Society. Her Blog http://scrapbookwife.blogspot.com/ chronicles her journey to live a balance simple life making her little corner of the world a better place to live.
by Lacie Ring, Miss December 2016
I hope y’all have had a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Thank you so much for letting me share the month of December with you. It has been a true pleasure. I’m honored to have the chance to show you some of my favorite blog posts from Easy Peasy Pleasy.
At first, I thought I should share my most popular posts, but then I thought those aren’t necessarily my favorites. Let me tell you, this is not an easy task. It’s extremely hard to narrow down my favorites because each one holds its own place in my heart. They may not be my best photography, but they are still projects I love.
One of my all-time favorite DIY projects turned out to be not so easy. My hope was by providing the how-to, it could make a similar project easier for readers. This Wicker Bench Redo was a labor of love for a friend and has a wonderful little back story.
I can’t go without mentioning a post that was inspired by my husband’s cooking. This recipe resonates especially since we live in Arkansas and duck hunting is a favorite pastime. My husband’s secret ingredient is what makes these Jalapeno Duck Poppers soooo good.
If I show off my hubby’s skills then I must spotlight my kiddo. Dr. Seuss week is one of my favorite PTO events. I made Garrett a costume every year. Doesn’t he look great in this DIY Green Eggs and Ham Costume? You can make it too. Just follow my directions and give me a shout if you get stuck.
Another favorite PTO event revolves around the Teachers. I say, go big or go home! To this day, I still love this All American Camping theme we hosted for Teacher Appreciation Week from a few years back. This week long event was so much fun to plan and decorate.
After sharing my favorites, I thought it’s only right to share my most popular post. This recipe is an Easy Peasy Pleasy original. I made up these Cheese Steak Quesadillas and took the pictures on a weeknight after the sun had gone down. I really had no idea what I was doing photography wise. I guess that’s why I’m so surprised that it has been viewed over 220,000 times this year. I figure it’s because the recipe speaks for itself. It really is delicious.
I have so many more favorite recipes and DIY projects on the blog. If you get a chance, take a scroll through Easy Peasy Pleasy. You might find something delicious to try or an easy DIY project to tackle.
The success in my short blogging career couldn’t be what it is without this wonderful group. Thank you all so much for your support. I can’t wait to see what all we do in the new year!
Merry Christmas from the ARWB Team!
Fa La La La La, SWEET MERCY, it is already Christmas Day and a new year is right around the corner. I want to thank all of you who have jumped in and breathed life into this mission of gathering, growing and connecting here at Arkansas Women Bloggers yet again this year. Seven years ago when this little seed took root, we could have never known that it would become what it is today.
Our community continues to get stronger. Many new faces, many who have continually stepped up to make this a more beautiful, loving group, and many whose life season does not include blogging, but still are a part of this community. We welcome any and all that have a true heart for community and are willing to open up and help one another with true kindness and giving. That is what this Christmas season is about, right? And, we try to keep that going all year long.
Business is booming in the influencer world and those of you who choose to grow as a business in some way, 2017 is going to rock your world. More and more brands are looking to partner with influencers, and yes, there are more and more blogs and social media accounts established every single day. Remember, comparison is the thief of joy, there is room for everyone, so be open to the amazing. Let The Women Bloggers be your training wheels, helping you to learn and keep upright in this busy, ever-changing world, while helping you to refine your message and your goals.
I look back with gratitude for the Lord’s many blessings on my family and this community in the past year. And I look forward to another great year with you.
Remember to exhale, to seek the beauty, the peace and the love that this season is all about. And carry it in your heart all year long.
Stephanie, @TheParkWife
I have only a few memories of my great-grandmother, Granny Mary. I remember sitting on her front screened in porch, in Hattiesburg, Mississippi and drinking my first cup of coffee around age six (which meant I was really drinking milk with a little bit of coffee.) I remember walking down the street to the Five and Dime and buying a sun-hat, making sure to leave the tags on like Minnie Pearl, and I remember her Chicken-and-Dumplings. They were legendary. The dumplings thick, the soup silky, the chicken chunky.
I have done my best to recreate her recipe from memory, and my Paw (Granny’s) said I got awfully close, which is good enough for me. This recipe has now become a family favorite and my boys ask for it most in the winter months, when the wind is cold and the nights long. This is a large recipe—enough for twelve adults.
Note: You can use homemade or store-bought chicken stock, or a combination of both.
Ingredients
Instructions
Notes
My good friend and baking mentor Lynn taught me this great kitchen tip: When rolling out dough, spread out a smooth kitchen towel on your counter (I prefer the flour sack variety) and cover it with a good dusting of flour. This will be your rolling surface, and after you are done, you can simply fold the towel up and take it outside to shake off the excess.
Photos by Judea Jackson Robinett
Jerusalem Jackson Greer is a writer, blogger, speaker and Minister to Children, Youth, and Families at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Conway, Her first book A Homemade Year: The Blessings of Cooking, Crafting and Coming Together was published in 2013, and her second book, At Home in this Life, will be released spring of 2017. Jerusalem, her husband Nathan, and their two boys Wylie and Miles live in rural Arkansas where they are attempting to live a slower version of modern life. She blogs about all of this and more at jerusalemgreer.com.
J.O.Y. was engraved on a pendant received upon high school graduation; and on the back was – Jesus; Others: Yourself. Thanks to a fire, the pendant is long-gone.The message? With me to this day.
It’s my hope the meaning of the message has grown with me as I’ve matured as a Christian and a human being.
How do we Give? Do we give for the right reasons?
A friend once queried another friend upon bailing someone out of home foreclosure the third time with nary a Thank you, “Have you ever thought you are interfering with God’s plan?”
Why do we give? To support one another? Or assuage our own egos? Sometimes it’s a hard call.
Matthew 6:2, KJV: Jesus says, “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.”
He doesn’t say IF you give, but When you give. Not Giving is never an option.
This season always reminds how wonderful it is that I am surrounded by silent givers.
Meet a few of my “Giving Heroes”:
Meet the Tim Capps Family of Greenbriar, Arkansas.
Lorie Capps goes out of her way to help others; and never saying a word about her good deeds, she is always sharing her time and talents to help others. Her husband, Tim, is a Firefighter AND Registered Nurse.
Their oldest son, Corbin is a student at Harding University and Cael is a student at Compass Academy in Conway.
Ruth Langford of Conway, Arkansas Ruth, along with friend Jan Cunningham created a puppet ministry and have shared with children at Robinson & Center Church of more than 20 years. Dedicated to Giving.
SHEILA PARSONS, also of Conway has shared her knowledge of Art with Art on the Green students for more than three years. She also volunteers, has given Art lessons to Southridge Residents for many years.
Brenda McClain is Gallery Director for Art on the Green, the art vortex for Central Arkansas. Her blog, brendamcclain.com tells about her life and experiences in the Entertainment Business as the former CEO for MPR, a Nashville, Tn. based Public Relations agency.
You will usually find her having a morning Starbucks in Art on the Green, reading the headlines on her iPad mini. She’ll be the one in black and if the sun is shining maybe even wearing sunglasses!
By Darla Haas of Third Season
A few years ago I was honored to join a group of women who made a trip to India where we held conferences in three different cities. Their receptivity to what we had to say, their eagerness to show up early and stay late and their continual honoring of us were almost overwhelming. But perhaps the thing which astounded me most was their culture of giving.
In Hyderabad, several hundred women had gathered at a hotel conference room which we had rented for the few days we were there. Those attending were definitely impoverished by Western standards. They had come from the surrounding villages, bringing food to last them and their children for the next three days, cooked over an open fire, bathed in a primitive shower and slept with their children on the floor of the lower level of the conference center.
In spite of their poverty, they had managed to pool resources and on the last night of the conference presented each of us with an elaborate fresh flower lei as a way of showing their thanks. The aroma of the exotic floral display was intoxicating. As a lovely young girl raised her brown arms to place the lei around my neck I felt emotions rising and warm tears spilling from my eyes.
Later in Calcutta we experienced the same generosity of spirit when we were all given beautiful, colorful saris which we wore on our last day there. I can’t imagine the sacrifice those women made to present us with such an elaborate and beautiful gift.
I learned from the leader of our group who had visited India many times how important gift giving was to their culture. The presenting of our gifts was almost ceremonial in fashion and watching the faces of the women in the crowd I could see intense pride and joy in being able to give us such fine gifts.
There are other cultures I have observed for whom gift giving is an extremely important part of their social customs. One of the most interesting aspects of visiting the Clinton Presidential Library here in Little Rock is the display of gifts given to President Clinton from other world leaders while he was in office. There is an impressive and eclectic variety of items which chronicle a period of time in our nation’s history.
Studying other cultures’ ideas of what is appropriate conduct in gift giving is a fascinating study in anthropology for me. I’ve found a website called “Giftypedia” which lists over 40 countries and as you click on each one, helps you navigate that particular country’s social norms of giving. Ultimately, however, it is not the goods or exchanged gift that bring people together as much as the process of giving itself.
I still have the very first gift my husband ever gave me. It’s a small, gold signet ring he surprised me with for my 20th birthday. I treasure that gift even now, 46 years later, because when I look at it I am immediately reminded of two young college students experiencing the beginnings of love.
December is a month of giving. Personal and charitable gifts take much of our focus and financial reserves the last month of the year. Even corporate giving is usually higher during this month, sometimes due to a company’s need of a tax write off at year’s end. In general, people are more sensitive and aware of those in need at Christmas and therefore more generous in their giving.
My challenge to each of us as we approach this new year is to consider spending an entire year GIVING. Not the monetary, tangible gifts we may be paying off on our credit cards for the next several months, but the intangible ones and those that cost you nothing. Consider the gift of a smile to the clerk who’s having a hard day, the gift of an encouraging word to the mother of three small children who is struggling with the chaos, the gift of believing the best of someone who has made poor choices, the gift of time and attention to an elderly person who is perhaps lonely and forgotten and the gift of listening – really listening – to someone who is hurting.
I am personally committed to giving thanks more in this new year, expressing gratitude to the ones I love and the ones who make my world a better and happier place to be. William Arthur Ward said “Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.” Expressions of gratitude are such a simple thing and yet can change the atmosphere and the direction of someone’s day.
These are the gifts that simply require our time and attention. And these are the gifts that reflect a generosity of spirit. A smile. A touch. A listening ear. A faithful heart. All are gifts we can easily give if we NOTICE those around us and choose to live with purpose and intentionality.
If we do, my guess is we will feel much like my Indian friends whose faces radiated happiness because of the joy they saw on ours. Living with generosity of spirit creates a better life for us all.
Darla publishes weekly on her blog, Third Season, and loves it when her words inspire or encourage her readers in any way. She is a speaker, mentor, mother to three grown children and grandmother to five little ones. She lives with her husband, Dr. David Haas, in Maumelle, AR, and says her suitcase is usually out in the floor waiting to be either packed or unpacked. Besides travel, she enjoys adventures in the kitchen and spending weekends with her husband on their farm.
by Lacie Ring, Miss December 2016
My alarm bell rings, and I ever so willingly hit the snooze button. I have no idea what the day looks like, because it’s still dark outside. It doesn’t matter for another 8 minutes, because I hit the snooze button again. By now, I can see pale light coming through the blinds. I reluctantly drag myself out of my warm and oh so comfy bed and notice that it’s going to be a dreary rainy day. The sky is grey and there’s not a ray of sunshine to be seen. It’s ok because my very own little ray of sunshine is popping out of bed. My kiddo has this crazy exuberance that I find hard to understand. I ask myself, “How can anyone be so chipper this early in the morning?” My husband is telling me something, but I’m not quite comprehending what is being said. Something about making an appointment or someone has an appointment, I think. I’m pretty sure he is trying to say as much as he can, because he knows once I really wake up he may never get in another word. I make my way to the kitchen where I simultaneously fill my Yeti with Dr. Pepper and get breakfast ready. In my world, Dr. Pepper is coffee and I cannot live without my morning cup. I wish I could tell you that I’m preparing Garrett a well-balanced breakfast, but I would be lying. I have good intentions, but hitting that ever enticing snooze button twice this morning made those intentions fly right out the window. In all actuality, I’m thanking Kellogg’s right now for inventing pop-tarts. As I open the fridge door, it dawns on me that I still have to pack the kiddo’s lunch box. I remind myself that I was busy last night and said I would do it in the morning. I mentally start going over my morning check list…Lunch box packed-check, I brushed my teeth-check, I’m dressed-check, I remembered to put on a bra-check. Ok, I’m ready and the kiddo’s ready, now we can head out the door. Before we can even get in the car the hubby yells out, “Learn something!” to Garrett as he has done every school day since he has worked from home. Yes, my husband works from home and it is glorious, but that’s a subject for another day because it’s carpool time. I pick up the neighbor kids and away we go. I try to get the lowdown on what’s happening in these eleven and twelve year olds’ lives, but it’s like pulling teeth to get more than one word answers. Garrett seems to jabber on with ease, but the other kiddos need a little nudging. I find myself wondering if they aren’t morning people just like me. I’ve pretty much gotten out about all they are willing to say and crank up the radio. I notice Garrett gets a little movement going in his shoulders to the beat, and I know he wants to sing but he’s holding back. Once, I asked him why he doesn’t sing when the other kids are in the car. He bashfully said he doesn’t want to be embarrassed. Oh yes, having this information in my back pocket will prove useful today. I feel it is my parental duty to embarrass him as much as possible. Plus, the caffeine from my morning Dr. Pepper is kicking in. I start belting out the words to our favorite song. Garrett shakes his head but continues to smile. I’m fairly certain that I just accomplished my mission. We arrive at school, I turn the music down, and wish the kids a good day. Now I’m off to fight the morning rush hour traffic to get back home. In these few minutes of uninterrupted silence, my mind is methodically thinking about the day at hand, knowing this will be the most typical thing I do today. Well, besides afternoon car rider line which pretty much works in reverse and includes a daily phone call to my mom.
I sometimes wonder what a typical morning is like for other moms. Then, I get to daydreaming about what it would be like to be Ree Drummond and live the modern pioneer life. Or Joanna Gaines and get to decorate over and over again on someone else’s budget. Or even Adele and be able to sing like an angel. Although, I wouldn’t be able to embarrass Garrett with my singing if I could sing like Adele. It’s fun to wonder and daydream, but I’m so glad I get to be me. My mornings are typical, but the days are never the same. I can’t wait to see what new adventures will happen tomorrow.
We’d been invited to a carry-in dinner. I love those. We were each giving the other the gift of a fine meal amidst gentle company, everyone contributing some, and all receiving a lot.
Cheery aromas met us when we arrived. I quickly popped my food offering into a warm oven.
The tables were decorated. The company—carefully chosen to be compatible—was chatting with small laughter and anticipation. There was even entertainment.
How irritating, that someone had merely grabbed some southern-fried, pretend chicken and shrugged it off to the luck of the draw! I was shocked.
These friends may think they were invited to a pot luck, but it was a dinner. I mean, we were going to dine. Each of us had brought a carefully planned special dish to complete this meal, to gift each other.
Into this amiable atmosphere, someone had inserted the harsh fragrance of overused grease and overbrowned double coating.
Somewhere there is a disconnect. People sometimes don’t get it. Just because it looks pretty on the package and the label has food words, does not mean it really is food. Not all that glitters is gold.
However, not all of us have the Midas touch. Fine food can be expensive, time-consuming, right?
Nope. Just because it would do in a pinch does not mean you have to be in a pinch.
Here’s how I made a marvelously rich and fork-tender roast, just for my friends, with only about $5.00 and maybe fifteen minutes effort. You can do this, or something like it, instead of letting the discount store make your apologies.
In addition, I’m gifting you with a recipe requested more than once, last week, to go with the fruitcake recipe: That is, the cranberry/cream cheese sauce I mentioned and pictured with it.
And, yes, I actually also did bring the fruitcake to the dinner. The sauce can make a good gift for the hostess at holiday time. It can also be served refrigerated as a spread, elevating anything whether fruitcake or a lowly bagel and looks appropriately festive.
What’s not to love?
Especially when you experiment with add-ins.
You’ll want to sample these two foods until they are gone, so it might be wise to make one round just for the family and to become confident with the procedure. This will allow you to nail your preferences as to the variations. It might also ensure you will have some to carry to that dinner.
Besides, practice makes perfect, don’t you think?
Katharine Trauger is a retired educator and a women’s counselor. She has spent 25 years managing a home and school for children who would otherwise have been homeless, and has worked 15 years as contributor and/or columnist for several small professional magazines, with over 60 published articles. She blogs about the rising popularity of “being at home” from a sun room on a wooded hilltop in the Deep South at: Home’s Cool! and The Conquering Mom and tweets at Katharine Trauger (@KathaTrau). She is currently working on a self-help book entitled: Yes, It Hurts, But . .
